The inimitable Jeepneys of the Philippines

The mainstay of public transport in the Philippines is the iconic jeepney. With their loud colors, individualistic facade decorations, and unique vehicular bodywork, they make good advertisements in tourist brochures. Apart from beauty queens and sandy beaches, the jeepneys embody the 7,107 islands.

It’s more fun in the Jeepneys

There was the thrill of novelty climbing on board the Philippine icon for my first few rides. No matter how full the vehicle is, when the 2 rows of lateral bench seats seem to be fully taken up, another passenger could always be accommodated. He or she simply puts butt between two sitting passengers, a mini Moses-like butt-parting occurs and a small space is created. I don’t know how a wholesome butt could fill a 6 inch space but they do. The fares are passed from one passenger to the next to the driver in front. If it’s your fare you say “Bayad, po – and your destination”. If you are relaying someone’s fare you say “Bayad dow”. If there is change, the money counterflows through various hands back to you. If someone wishes to alight, they say “Para, po” and it amazes me that one does not need to shout, somehow the driver hears through the cacophony of the noisy traffic. If the driver misses the call, some helpful passenger will repeat “Para dow”. Para, by the way, is Spanish for stop, and it is used only in this situation of instructing a driver. Then there are the street ushers, locally known as ‘Barker boys’, guys who chanel passengers to the jeepneys. Their job is basically superfluous, but jeepney drivers will pass them a peso or two, it’s a sort of the poor helping the poor. Street urchins may cling to the back steps for a short thrill ride for free. Occasionally some shady looking characters come on board and that momentarily jolts everyone out of a mundane ride. People are generally wary because of the high crime rate. At other times, some guys will come on board, sing a wacky tune, and pass a hat around.

The jeepney driver is a multi-tasking master. Apart from driving, he is simultaneously collecting fares, counting his collection, wrapping peso notes in between his fingers, returning change to passengers, and prospecting new passengers on the sidewalks. On top of this, he often stops to buy a stick of cigarette or a bottle of water from street vendors who peddle their wares weaving in and out of traffic. There’s just too much going on in the driver’s seat, I only wish he has both hands on the steering wheels instead. Lane discipline is unheard of. Jeepneys zip in and out of lanes every few seconds as drivers compete voraciously to pick up passengers.

Jeepney rides are cheap but terribly uncomfortable and the exposure to vehicular emissions that fill the air is really bad. I salute the Filipino commuters for their great consideration towards each other in the jeepneys. There is hardly any display of annoyance whether someone is shabily dressed, or tugging baggages or bags and the fact that everybody gets into each other’s way as they board and alight. And, amazingly, boarding and alighting takes place just about anywhere, even right in the middle lanes of the road.

And here’s my lasting impression of a jeepney ride. If you are over 4 feet tall, you have a problem. All adults need to do the crouching walk in the jeepneys, which I personally feel entails a loss of some dignity. For a newbie like me, it needs practice so I got myself a video. (Video credit : Roger Parish III).

If you are not a jeepney crouchie then you don’t understand Filipino daily frustrations.

Oldies are not goodies – they are killing our lungs

To me, the jeepney is a sick manifestation of a governing system where the economically and the politically empowered classes have foresaken their responsibility to provide for a more decent way for the masses to travel. The government entity LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) simply registers operators and performs some overseeing function. The self-operated jeepney drivers are left to their own accord, including route selection. As a consequence, the industry is mired in WW2 technologies. Jeepneys run chaotically in the cities and they are a major cause of slowing traffic flows on the roads as well as contributing greatly to air pollution.

Jeepneys originated from US Army jeeps written off in WW2 and the Vietnam War. They were cannibalised and reconstructed into the shapes we see today. Over the years, small local companies started to produce newer versions by importing engine parts and reassembling them onto locally produced car-cases. Some of the very old ones are still on the road. A DOTC report noted vehicular traffic is responsible for 37% of air pollution in Philippines and, out of this, the jeepneys contribute 80%. That’s how bad it is.

Safety issues that nobody cares about

Jeepneys are mean machines. Even with so much cannibalising and retrofitting, there are no annual inspections or safety tests. Forget about emission tests. There are no safety standards in place. The aggressive solid metal rail front bumper that protrudes 1 foot out is a killing device. Lateral seating is not only bad, the exposed sides leave passengers’ backs vulnerable to extruding materials from vehicles brushing by – in the Metro’s crowded streets, vehicles are often separated by just inches. The open rear and doorless driver and front passenger seat are simply unacceptable in other countries. There are no safety belts. The riot of colours and exterior decorations are undue distractions on the roads. Sleepy drivers try to chalk up as many driving hours as possible each day, some resorting to shabu to stay awake. Many jeepneys are so old their roadworthiness is just unbelievable. At full capacity, they are simply way too overloaded. That’s not even considering the provinces where people clamber onto the rooftops. Rear seat passengers have no cushion protection from a rear collision. Squeezing 2 passengers into the front seat cramps the driver’s mobility. Being one-man operated, the driver spends too much time dealing with fares; that puts him in the uncompromising, awkward position of one arm stretched backwards as he collects fares or returns change whilst zipping in and out of lanes.

Change is coming

There is no disagreement that the public transport system in Philippines is pathetic. Administrations in the past have lacked both finances, concern, and more importantly, political will, to implement severely needed overhauls. Adding to this woeful story is the lack of executive continuity, a deadly disease of the Philippines. Succeeding admins fails to build on the previous admin’s work. A new admin tends to totally rewrite plans started by the previous executive. Either they have different visions and priorities, or, are trying to corner contracting privileges.

In the case of public transport, the Pnoy admin had actually made several initiatives which have been publicly announced, but I think not well dissemminated. Hence 16.5 million yellow haters remain totally ignorant, refuse to see, or are unable to comprehend. The main initiatives were :

LRT2 extension projects

Construction of the Skyway Stage 3

Proposed Metro Manila subway

Bus rapid transit (BRT) system

Point-to-point buses

Express buses

Jeepney upgrading

GPS on public buses to allow fleet management by DOTC.

These are very complex projects that require extensive studies and analysis before any concrete plans can be laid. Take for example one critical data needed — commuters’ traveling patterns. It takes years to survey and obtain origin-destination data and then analyse them. The Pnoy admin has completed most of the study and planning, and some work has, in fact, proceeded. For example, the origin-destination survey for jeepneys has been completed, and the software for the GPS system to monitor buses has been acquired.

It is a good thing that Duterte’s admin has committed to continue with programs started by Pnoy where they deem them to be good ones. Basically, the execution part is now left to the current admin. That is not to say execution will be plain sailing. Duterte admin has its work cut out for them. They still need to tweak the programs, manage change and oversee the implementation.

Jeepney upgrading

This is a long overdue upgrade that calls for the phasing out of jeepneys more than 15 years old. Nation-wide there are about 200,000 jeepneys and 150,000 were over 15 years in 2016. With manufacturer capacity at 27,000 per annum, the phasing out will be done in stages.

The govt recently announced the program to upgrade old jeepneys and that triggered a strike by jeepney operators/ drivers. In a highly polarized country, Duterte supporters are quick to take credit for anything good without recognizing the hard work of others and so they were proud of the proposed upgrade. In the aftermath of the strikes, they were even quicker to devil-point Pnoy admin for being the ones who planned the upgrade. As to what was planned at the macro-level, and what was tweaked at the micro and implementation level, we don’t really know. It is dumb to go fault finding round the mulberry bush.

The upgrading program calls for :

phasing out of jeepneys above 15 years old

operators must own a fleet of 20 jeepneys

routes will be determined by DOTC.

cost of new vehicle Php 1.5mm

drivers will be salaried employees

There are good and debatable ideas here. Getting rid of the old jeepneys is absolutely good for the environment. Our city air will be cleaner for sure. New means safer and more comfortable rides for commuters. Determination of routes by DOTC on scientific bases will lead to greater efficiency by reducing duplicity which in turn improves traffic. Will salaried drivers improve customer service — left to be seen.

Why the jeepney strike?

The jeepney industry players are small time investors who own a few vehicles and rent them out for a daily fee known as ‘boundary’, owner-operated jeepneys, and drivers who rent for 12 hour sessions. Driver income is anybody’s guess, but it’s definitely a very tough working environment and their take home is in the low range.

This sector has no means to cough up Php 1.5 mm for a new jeepney, let alone for 20 vehicles. Many are still paying off loans for their aged vehicles. If there are 200,000 vehicles to be phased out, and assuming they operate on 2 shifts, then 400,000 jeepney drivers will be marginalised. While there certainly are advantages that can be said of salaried employees, I’m betting most drivers are happier with their independent status. That’s the way it has been for decades for them.

The proposed 20 vehicle ruling is neither here nor there. Existing drivers cannot take up the challenge as they have no financial wherewithal. Big corporates cannot enter the market because 20 vehicles is too small a base. It’s a right fit for some fat cats with Php 30m to spare as a side investment, but don’t expect them to drive innovation and move the service to greater heights.

Progress and development need not necessarily always be at the expense of the poor and for the benefit of the oligarchs. Neither should a poor system inherit a ‘too-big-to-fail’ status. Apart from the consumer public, any proposed change must take the interest of the drivers into consideration. As for the small time investors who owns a few vehicles, the environment for them has changed, that’s all.

Drivers’ participation in the industry revamp

The business of public bus service has the unique peculiarities of running peak and non-peak hours, and a profit motivated objective to seek profitable routes vs a social service to run non-profitable ones. An operator needs a critical mass in order to take on loss-making routes and resources to run peak hours and absorb idle time during non-peak hours. Furthermore, for a country that does not socialise the cost of certain infrastructures for public transport, such as bus stop shelters, it is left to the operator to provide such. For these reasons, public bus services are often operated by huge corporations which can seek economies of scale advantages.

Can there be a role for existing jeepney drivers in this? Is it possible to organise them into cooperatives where they continue to drive as salaried employees but have a stake in the business? In metro Manila alone, there are 60,000 jeepneys. Let’s say they work on 2 shifts, that gives a total of 120,000 jeepney drivers. Supposing they each contribute php5,000, an affordable sum, that should provide a total of php600 million seed capital which is a fairly strong base to work on. The govt can help to arrange bank financing for the acquisition of the fleet of new jeepneys. Break them up into 3 or 4 cooperatives to provide competition which can drive the industry forward.

The govt proposal also failed to understand that the jeepney is a ticketless cash business. A one-man-operated salaried driver and a ticketless cash fare is a bad business proposition. There are, however, low cost solutions, such as tamper-proof coin boxes next to the driver (requires passengers to have exact fares ready). There are also coin machines that print tiny tickets. These are operational problems that a professionalised entity operator can address.

Jeepney drivers’ equity participation may take away the understandable emotion against the upgrade proposal.

Critical question — Is the upgrade viable?

While upgrading jeepney services is good, the question on the public’s mind is, will it lead to upward revision of fares? Coming at a time when inflation is beginning to bite, a fare increase will have a political cost and provoke social unrest. It boils down to whether or not the upgrade is viable.

The table below is a simple analysis for marginal cash contribution of a jeepney. Corporate costs and tax not considered. This is an interactive table. Do your own ‘what if’ analysis. You may change the variable data in the white cells. Colored cells are formulated. Your changes will not be saved.

The analysis does not seem to indicate the upgrade is financially viable. My data are all educated guesses, and it may well be they are all wrong. Do your own ‘what if’ and see if it makes sense.

The Makati experience

The E-Jeepney Transport Corp has a franchise operating e-jeepneys in Makati. The company has a small fleet of e-jeepneys using salaried employees. They are the first franchise to operate with employee drivers. I have no idea what the salary scale is like. One visible aspect I can see of these jeepneys is the fact that there is no haphazard driving competing for passengers since the motivation for speed is not there. Driver discipline is definitely much better. The capital investments for e-jeepneys are far lower at Php 600,000 each, making it more viable. Their experience is probably worth studying.

Other considerations

If jeepneys are to be phased out, why replace them with more jeepneys? It is going to be a massive project. Why not take the opportunity to replace jeepneys with mini-buses? Too many buses may be a problem for the roads, but mini-buses do not take up larger footprints than jeepneys. Mini-buses have more capacity and they spare passengers from the indignity of the crouching walk.

Whilst the jeepney upgrade is primarily being used to phase out old vehicles with a view to improving safety and reducing pollution, it also tries to reduce traffic congestion by better route planning. However, a major cause for traffic slowing down unnecessarily in Metro Manila is due to jeepneys’ constant lane switching, picking up and droppping off passengers indiscriminately at any point, even less than ten meters apart, and slowing down to prospect people standing by the roads who often are just waiting for someone else. The constant stop-go-stop-go pattern of jeepneys is a major cause of traffic slowing down. Traffic flows will be enhanced simply by killing off these two practices via :

Having designated jeepney stops on all city streets. Commuters need to bear with a small inconvenience of walking to these stop points. This will avoid the indiscriminate stopping every ten metres or so and the slowing down to prospect for people standing on the streets.

Strictly observing lane discipline.

The video below demonstrates how silly driver actions are a major cause that impedes the free flow of traffic.

“And here’s my lasting impression of a jeepney ride. If you are over 4 feet tall, you have a problem. All adults need to do the crouching walk in the jeepneys, which I personally feel entails a loss of some dignity. “

I witnessed an accident there once, which is partly related to this crouching walk.

It wasn’t a city jeepney, but but one of the country ones which have “conductors” and extra “benches” they stick in the middle of the aisle for more seating, with cargo on top to boot, and young guys as hangers-on.

So the jeepney stops to off load in the middle of the highway that runs thru the country side, a mom (or grandma?) with a toddler does the crouched walk to exit, mom in crouched position pays the “conductor” the fair, the last passenger on the edge helps the toddler off the jeepney,

The driver of the car that hit her, gets a couple witnesses to carry the now bloodied child, tells mom to go in the car too and off they go to the hospital.

The folks in the jeepney in shock, especially the poor fella that helped the young child off the jeepney, compose themselves and off they go, continue their journey.

And I’m thinking , it’s obviously the whole system of crouching, of paying for the fair, of the chaos inside that jeepney, of simply stopping in the street (instead of having designated stops), everything could have mitigated that accident.

But the accident was considered separate from the jeepney, that was just so weird, i guess since it happened as the child was crossing the street, with a vehicle going the opposite way from the jeepney.

But going back to that pedestrian-vehicle accident, re NH’s humanity and karl & Ireneo’s talk of accidents below,

one thing I did notice in the 3rd world was swift mob justice that results after a vehicle related accident.

Had it not been for some quick thinking, and quickly appeasing those 2 guys about to do some serious damage on him (the driver who hit the little girl), by enlisting them as on-the-spot medics and driving all of them to the hospital—- that driver would’ve been beaten to a pulp right then and there, on the street.

Having seen on the spot mob justice a few times in the 3rd world, i can’t imagine why drivers still drive drunk, or recklessly without regard. I know Rule of Law and all that stuff, but there’s something similarly as beautiful with on-the-spot punishment (in this though, the driver mentioned above was not at fault).

Seeing those pictures above by Ireneo, just reminded me of mob justice in the 3rd world, it may look like chaos, but there are unwritten rules keeping order in that chaos, algorithm of sorts adjusting, keeping folks in line…

Philippines’ transport problems are multiplied 11 times worse in India, on the basis of population. There are 1.2 billion Indians.

I’m just wondering, I know matter cannot be created nor destroyed. But adding another 1 billion of humans would’nt that make Earth heavier and somehow distort its dynamics in its rotation and revolution? Perhaps that’s the cause of climate change.I know more people means more farting and more consumption thus more production leading to more emissions etc, that’s the routine reasonings. I was thinking of the impact pure human weightage,

Hahaha… I just imagined the whole of China farting. chemp, as part of your “attack” campaigns on social media, why not get folks in your neck of woods, Asia, to jump at exactly the same time, and see if that knocks us off orbit, possibly hitting Mars. that’s one way to find out if human weight in the millions can affect rotation and revolution.

I don’t know why the investment was pegged at php1.5mm and who the supplier/suppliers are.

The first local maker of jeepneys is Sarao Motors. They shrunk their mfg capacity some years back due to cessation of issue of new LTFRB franchises for jeepneys. From their facebook I notice their prices are in the 500,000 to 600,000 price ranges. But it could be comparing apples to oranges of Sarao’s and the proposed 1.5mm peso vehicles.

My concern is, what sort of regulatory safety tests and checks are there with all these cannibalising and local production? Let’s be frank, jeepney production are basically backyard operations.

The manufacture of motor vehicles, parts and components is among the preferred activities listed in the IPP. The govt’s objective is Php 41 billion new investments creating 70,000 jobs in this sector. There are already many players in the country, especially the Japs. But let’s not kid ourselves, it’s not about building our own car. It’s assembly and getting as much components locally built as far as possible.

It is assembly, We assemble cars, computers and what not.
We are good at manufacturing components, we can not manufacture the whole products, because of some agreement with the main manufacturer.

As to the jeep, we cannibalize and that has to stop, those interviewed from the transportt sector’s only other reason for not accepting modernization aside from affordability is they can still fix the broken stuff. That they can not even do, recycling and reusing maybe good for the environmentalists, but this is too much already. The jeepneys must all be scapped.

I recall riding in that kind of jeepney. Space for two on each side of the parallel seats. And I vaguely recall a small seat at the back of the front seats facing the door. Now the standard seems to be 10 seats on each side of the parallel seats plus of course two in front.

In between the jeep pictured above by the Irineo and the “modern” jeepney, we had the type, with more than two seats on each of the parallel seats and the embellishment — a must: some four (or was it six) metal horses on the engine hood. It was part of the Sarao jeepney works, I believe. Those were the days my friend.

Irineo’s jeep above is the real (gas-guzzling) jeep, not the 20 seater jeepneys now with surplus Toyota engines.

We adapt, like on transport after WWII, but as has been discussed in TSH, after the initial bright idea we stopped and just keep pushing that idea in small bits. (No help from the politicians with the likes of a Pacquiao pushing his grand Boxing Commission idea.) We have not done the grand idea bit, or if we have, not pushed or implemented it like the Israeli’s besieged on all sides do their things. Of course, one may not match the Nobel-winning Israeli minds, thanks too of course to the billions of $ poured their way since the creation of the State of Israel.

Wow, quite a coverage on the inimitable jeepney. Big headache indeed. Reminds me of the Mining conundrum with the estimate 1M or so employees to lose their jobs. Here you estimate about 0.4M drivers plus small-time operators — so they are in league on the job loss item. But of course their are truly big league players on top. So the comparison stops at the job loss area.

A joke then — why replace the inimitable jeepney?

Love your characterization of the butt-against-butt passengers and the super-multitasking driver.

You did a winner again, chempo, completing the picture with the associated problem and historical background, including the Pnoy Admin contribution to a possible solution. And your relevant note of the present Admin taking credit when useful and laying the problem of the upgrade on the past Admin when the jeepney drivers rallied against it. Good coverage of the jeepney.

My reading of the mining conundrum is it’s all a ploy. Get rid of existing players. Who better to do it than an environmentalist crusader. Lopez is an unknowing prawn. The boss comes in as a champion of the environment, supports Lopez. Big brouhaha is created. In steps a white knight to take over and correct all environmental mistakes. It’s the Mindanao mafiaosi game plan to retake the riches of the south that is at the heart of federalism.

This type of mind fuck is played repeatedly. We see this with the Mighty cigarette tax problems. Boss comes out and say arrest the bastard. Wow 16mm cheered, what decisiveness they say, without thinking you ought to charge the guy first before you can arrest him. Later on, Boss say OK don’t arrest, pay up 3 billion – we can use the money to fund our budgets. 16mm cheered, ya good decisiveness in getting money from bastard crooked oligarchs. After some quarters complain about the quantum, boss say pay up Php 5 billion, that’s fairer. Then boss released the info — ya I know the guy, he is my mistah. What does this mean? See even as friend he does not let the guy go, but press him for 5B? Wow, 16mm thought so. The reality is Mighty has mighty big problems with income tax and customs. Normally, if you evade 100 peso income tax, the penalty is you pay a few times that, say 300pesos. But Boss say this can normally be negotiated, and he is correct, so you pay 200 pesos. But customs is a different matter. It’s breaking the law. You should be charged and fined several times the amount of excise duties evaded. All in, Mighty’s liabilities could come to 20 or 30 billion. Sec Dominguez or was it someone else, said we have’nt event finalised the total claims yet. Meanwhile Boss said 5billion peso lang.

Just look at the bus accident situation, the engine was 30 years old only the chassis is relatively new and yet it is allowed to run.
We do not need rolling coffins.
The othr accident involving a cement mixer, revealed or reconfirmrd thst our driver&s licensing system is very lax.

We need a transport safety board for sea air and land safety, I know it is another layer, but we need it.
—
Back to jeepneys.
Ejeeps and e trykes must only be for short distances.
They should only bring you to the bus or train station.

I agree the monumental problem of land transport — including bus, jeepney, tricycle — has to be a system and no nonsense job, not to mention the shipping transport counterpart. (Air transport a little better?) This is one job a tough-talking Admin may be better at, but methinks not enough incentive for its solution compared to other pressing (?) items …

Speaking of Shipping we also need a Maritime code.
It had stakeholder support, don’t know what incentives are neded to pass this bill.
——-
NH,
In the nationwide strikes, I noticed that the ugliest eyesore jeeps can be found in Metro Manila, Those in Cebu,Ilo-ilo, Mindanao are pleasing to the eyes.

Gian
Your point is crisp and sharp. “How we handled this….’ is the underlying single key truth. As a foreigner I should avoid commenting along this line. The fact remains that public transportation is not the unique problem of Philippines. All countries in the the world need to tackle this, and how is it that many others can do so well?

Before President Duterte I would not hazard a guess.
After Tokhang my suspicion is if it affects me negatively even if it benefits everyone else I will be against it.

recently MMDA floated what amounts to congestion pricing on private vehicle use of EDSA.
This was a sensible policy experiment. Something to be modeled and studied.

What surprised me is the pushback from some of my friends who really should know better.

EDSA is a finite resource per JICA study majority of people who go through EDSA uses public transport. per JICA study majority of EDSA space is used by private vehicles. In a cohesive society this is a no brainer. Push people towards public transport and hope a positive feedback loop of ever improving public transport is created.

Deuts I had an afterthought of adding he keeps one eye on the road another on the rear view mirror to see who has paid and who has’nt, but the article is already too long. I could’nt get past you hahaha. But you are right, that is perhaps most important.

You made a good point praising the ubiquitous jeepney, Joeam. However, the jeepneys are the bane of my existence. They pollute, they cause traffic and they are not maintained. My route coming from my home to my place of work at Marcos Highway could be managed in 15 minutes but due to the jeepneys who clog the road, it sometimes takes me almost one hour.
Choke points:
1) Aurora Blvd towards EDSA: jeepneys with no passengers occupy one lane, and using the lane as terminal to pick up passengers. Along the way, they stop in the middle of the road to either pick up passengers or unload them. Such impunity!
2) at intersection with EDSA – the same story aggravated by buses that ply EDSA that keep ongoing despite the stop sign. And the traffic enforcers just fan themselves or look elsewhere.
3) Intersections along Aurora Blvd where jeepneys do not follow stop lights and just go on without care.
4) Along Marcos Highway- the same story – where jeepneys occupy one lane and using them as loading station.

Why can’t we instill discipline both for jeepneys drivers and riders? It’s the only way to ease the traffic situation. No more laws to create. Just implement strictly the traffic laws.

Fighting them will be difficult because the vehicle has been in the culture for so long, just like Thai tuk-tuks and Vietnam’s love affair with the motorcycle and the scooter (try driving in Ho Chi Minh City, you’ll be pulling hairs trying to dodge them).

PUV drivers tend to fight to get the most passengers and so causing multiple traffic violations because of the existing boundary and commission system growing from the jeepney culture. Another problem is of course pollution and safety, both of them direct results of cost-cutting.

But then I learned that the answer to urban mobility is not to have even the poor own a car but everyone enjoying trouble-free and convenient public transportation.

Before any private car ownership prohibition policy can be imposed, a convenient, reliable and cheap public transport system must be in place. The horse must be before the cart.

Here’s the thing. We cannot ban private car ownership but simply make it exhorbitant with high fees or duties. The LGU’s coffers will be loaded for lots of social expenditures. Sure it will discriminate, only the super rich will afford it. But they pay a heavy price. There’s no 2 ways about it if urban mobility is to be improved.

It’s the immovable force, you can’t get rid of it.
How can we solve the problem when no political party has any platforms. When no one says elect me and I will solve this A,B,C,D etc by 1,2,3,4, ways etc. We have instead everyone that says the political cliche I will end corruption problems, but never explain how, and one guy that says I will solve drug problems, and told everyone exactly how he will do it. .

I am 75 and ride jeepneys almost daily. Mostly in rural Batangas but once or twice a month in Manila. I mention my age because the crouching walk is definitely uncomfortable but may actually be good exercise. BTW Chemrock did a great job of describing the social reality of the jeepney, which I enjoy immensely.

I think it is completely wrong to blame jeepneys that carry 20 passengers for congesiion on the streets of Manila. The huge growth in SUVs, which use as much roadspace, as a jeepney but only rarely carry more than 2 people is the real problem. Force SUVs to carry 5 to 7 people is a start on the problem.

You are right jeepneys are not the sole cause of road congestion, there are many other causes. We have discussed these on and off in TSH here. As you said, passenger load in private vehicles such as the SUV is an issue. We have talked at length about passenger pick-up schemes for private vehicles going into central business districts in past articles. Theoretically makes sense, in practice hardly workable for various reasons.

For the jeepneys, it’s their stop-go-stop-go and swerving in and out of lanes every few seconds that is a major cause of slowing down traffic – that’s something I try to demonstrate with the video at the article end. This in fact, is one of the reasons cited by the govt in the upgrade plan which they feel salaried drivers will resolve because they no longer need to compete for business.

In case you are interested, there is a lengthy discussion on traffic matters in this past article,

You are right about that, chempo. I once made a study on queues. If something is flowing nicely, there is a point where some delay is tolerable but immediately beyond that the queue grows rapidly. Exhibit A — I notice this especially in the house. (You see, the wife is the cook and I do the dish washing: each one to his own expertise.) In a sink drain, waste water from dish washing flows rather nicely, and tolerated in the drain filter, then beyond some accumulation of waste items in the filter, the water clogs up rather rapidly. So in the matter of traffic, any delay in the queue beyond a point is “catastrophic” to the queue. And I am sure the traffic experts know this.

What I tried to bring up in my un-educated way can be explained away in queue theories. It is scientific, not my musings. The stop-go-stop-go and cutting in and out of lane patterns create mini-bottlenecks and in queued traffic,these disturbances flow upstream, thus slowing traffic flows. This is exactly what the video shows.

Chempo, thanks.. the jeepney says a lot about the Philippines itself. The “boundary” system is typical for the exploitation that happens at the lowest rungs, were all are somehow precarious.

Imagine what happens if a driver crashes a jeepney – are owner, driver insured for that at all? From the tricycle business, I have heard of migration stories that start with a driver having an accident and going abroad to pay for the tricycle, especially when the motorcycle was damaged.

As for payment, I wonder why there is no use of mobiles yet. Africans pioneered in the use of mobile phones for cashless payment everywhere, Indians and even Romanians followed suit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa – new projects (Zimbabwe) plan to use NFC features.

Cooperatives are a nice idea. But even Filipino overseas associations often break down due to either people running off with the money – or one group accusing the other of doing so, with or without evidence. So you have these micro-capitalist structures, similar to sari-sari stores etc.

Or sidewalk vendors. All “money in a basket” entrepreneurs, like in old Singapore or Kowloon.

‘Boundary’, ‘bombays’ loan sharks, ‘5-6’ etc all these predatory lending business prosper because people have no access to bank credits. Of course you are right, there is massive exploitation. More importantly, it creates business inefficiencies as you pointed out. The sad thing is the govt does nothing. Yeah I know there is the often touted Bam’s initiative the Negrosyo project, and some micro financing project here and there. But there is no initiative that can have a significant impact. Other than call to arrest the 5-6 Indians, the govt has never done anything There is just too much law to wade through in Philippines. Why is it that these types of projects for the very very poor, we have to leave it to international agencies to come in and create their own programme, like the IFAD (Intl Fund for Agricultural Devt).

For jeepneys — yes I worry about insurance too. But life is cheap in Philippines.

hmm, second comment on the unproductive nature of Filipino small-scale capitalism lost. Final try: boundary is unproductive, just like the percentage system for hueteng cobradors. Or the 50-60s who loan money for people in the market to get their wares. Nobody is insured, profits are small, vehicles get damaged by accidents and who pays? I know a migration story of a tricycle driver who had to pay for a vehicle, or maybe he just ran?

German public transport by contrast: municipally-owned companies. Salaried employees. Subsidized fares. Bus drivers in the Philippines: underpaid and overworked. I wonder if municipal monopolies would work in the Philippines with jeepneys: salary not boundary.

The entire boundary system is typical for Filipino small-scale capitalism. Jeepneys and tricycles have it. Hueteng is different, there from what I heard cobradors get a percentage of sales, a bit of a pyramid scheme where the higher levels get a BIT more. The point is only the big bosses reach a level somewhat above subsistence. I doubt that the owners of 2-3 jeepneys make that much even with boundary – think of repairs, think of the inevitable accident from time to time. Of course I know of tricycle drivers who went abroad to pay for damaged vehicles – or did they just run?? If someone runs you have no way of getting your money back, and I doubt anyone is insured?? Also I have read somewhere that most who sell in markets borrow from 50-60s to buy the stuff, so they certainly have to have absurd markups to pay back. There too there is unsold stuff, bulok stuff.

The European system… public bus transport is with city-owned companies, private companies are sometimes commissioned to run lines, bus drivers are salaried employees. No comparison to the exploitative low wages and long hours of Filipino bus drivers. I wonder how small cities in the Philippines would fare if the LGU would just take over jeepneys for a start and give the drivers proper wages instead of boundary. Then phase out old vehicles step by step. But this would of course have to go hand in hand with a certain honesty (haha) within LGUs or city-owned firms.

There is a state (!) refund for election expenses in Germany based on the percentage of the votes you get. Bill mentioned the same thing in Australia. It helps in keeping political parties from being too indebted to certain vested interests due to heavy financing.

Access to proper credit AND insurance is extremely important for small businesses.

this includes accidents caused by your drivers and the liabilities they have to pay – or is that handled extrajudicially in the Philippines, so to speak?

I have heard stories of people in the Philippines who had accidents in the provinces seeking protection from cops or soldiers – because the other side might kill them… how true are such stories? Didn’t take much not of them before. Now I think they are likely.

seeking protection meaning – armed man that you personally know helps… knowing the usual systems of favors among Filipinos this might mean you help or “lend” money later…

of course there is the story of bus drivers in Manila being asked in interviews whether they had killed someone – if you answered yes, you got hired. With the instruction to run over people twice, because paying for a dead man costs the company less. Urban legend?

Now social media netizens is cali g for a senate inquiry in aid of reelection.
For transport safety, issuing of driver’s licenses,etc.

With the narration of the driver in a radio interview on how he got his license, I an sure Ted Failon will make it a point to report on this daily until the next issue arises.

He just learned to drive from the driver whom he was assisting and the driver was the one who decided that he was ready to drive.
Many annoying and apalling revelations though nothing new it was still enraging.

Another review of existing policies, and unfortinately though what we need is enforcement of laws, we still need to revise some laws.

The latest accidents involveing the tourist bus with college students, the owners shouldered the insurances. The cenent mixer truck conpany that killed an elderly might provide insurance. I think befire you register a vehicle you must gave insurance for motorists, TPL is compulsary, I wil check more o insurance regarding jeepney operators.

The insurance for passengers of Public Utility Vehicles (PUV) started in 1990 when various accidents happened and difficulty in payment of hospitalization claim and death benefits for passengers. A circular was issued by the LTFRB, headed by Chairman Dante M. Lantin mandating all Public Utility Vehicles to secure a personal accident insurance for all its passengers, in answer to Presidential Decree 1460, otherwise known as the Insurance Code of the Philippines, provides: ”It shall be unlawful for any land transportation operator or owner of a motor vehicle to operate the same in the public highways unless there is a force in relation thereto a policy insurance or guaranty in cash or surety bond issued in accordance with the provisions of this charter to indemnify the death or bodily injury of a third-party or passenger, as the case may be, arising from the use thereof.” (section 374, PD1460)

In March 1992, Department Order No. 92-587 had taken its position that all PUVs must have sufficient insurance coverage to protect the riding public before a franchise can be issued to any operator.

WHAT LTFRB DID TO FOLLOW THE MANDATE

In 1990, Chairman Lantin asked the Insurance Commission through Commissioner Eduardo Malinis to get the insurance companies to cover all PUVs throughout the country for the amount of Ps. 50,000.00 per passenger.

After several consultations with the Philippine Insurance Rating Association (PIRA), the premium per bus was pegged at Ps. 15,000.00 for the period of one (1) year on a standard personal accident insurance coverage, 10,000 for the jeepney. This was arrived due to the very high risk of accidents on all public utility vehicles and for an insurance company to cover it would be unprofitable. After a dissemination campaign was launch with the public transport group, the idea was rejected by the transport industry due to a very expensive premium.

In 1994-1995, Chairman Lantin with Commissioner Malinis discussed once again with the officers of PIRA but still premium was maintained at a high level due to a number of accidents. Which happened during the previous years. All this time, the transport operators needed this coverage but found the premium too expensive i. e. Ps. 15,000.00-bus; Ps. 8,000.00- jeepneys and taxis.

In November 1998, a bus in Baguio met an accident. Twenty-two (22) people died and several were injured. Insurance coverage was only Ps. 50,000.00 for LTO-CTPL and was equally divided to the passengers. Each dead passenger’s family received Ps. 2,780.00. There were complaints and a public outcry due to the very low claim settlement.

December of the same year, Chairman Lantin again requested Commissioner Malinis if Department Order 92-587 can be implemented with a reduced in premium that will make it affordable to all PUV operators.

From January to July 1999, ten (10) insurance companies made a study on how to come up with the coverage. The LTFRB requested a “NO FAULT “ policy. PIRA (Phil. Insurance Rating Assoc.) was assigned to make an actuarial report on this. PIRA results showed that no insurance company giving cover alone would be able to stand the losses. This time premium was made into socialized premium was already lowered to Ps. 1,000.00-buses; Ps. 900-taxis; Ps. 800.00-jeeps. This SOCIALIZED premium was arrived based on the principle that they get the total volume of PUVs. If all revenues are put in one (1) basket then claims can be paid through out the year.

TRANSPORT ORGANIZATION PROPOSAL

Upon various consultation, a circular mandating all public utility operators are required to secured a comprehensive passenger personal accident insurance (PPAI) was created last June 1999. But because of fear from the transport groups that this is again will be like the CTPL of LTO wherein in proliferation of fake policies/Certificate of Cover (COC) is very rampant; unjustified commissioning is made; graft and corruption is very present; and worst unpaid claims is also very high, and taxes are not remitted by insurance companies, on last quarter of 2000, big transport leaders from FEJODAP, PISTON, PCDO-ACTO, FERCODA, MJODA, PBOA, IMBOA and ATOM join together in calling and petitioned to the LTFRB and the government that the PPAI program should be made on a two-group system and demanded that their proposal should be followed, because they are the one’s who pays the premium; they (operators/drivers) are the one’s who are victimized by these scrupulous insurance agents so it is just right that there proposal be heard.

Upon consultation and various public hearing with the Insurance Commission present and a meeting were held from various regions on this proposal, LTFRB issued the Memorandum Circular 2001-001 on February 01, 2001 and 2001-010 declaring the two-group system will take effect on March 01, 2001 and stating PAMI/UCPB General Insurance and PAIC2/Great Domestic Insurance are the LEAD insurance companies.”

If I were an insurance company in Philippines, I’ll tell Filipinos forget it, buy a domestic travel insurance policy from me. 50,000,000 pax x 10 pesos each my revenue is 500,000,000 pesos per year. I’m sure it’s viable. there can’t be 1 million accidents per year.

sup, I believe poor Mocha is basking in this invitation without realizing that even the Armed Forces can engage in some form of satire or sarcasm. This line in the link is a give-away:

The Philippine Army, the largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines currently facing security challenges on all fronts, has decided to engage the wisdom of singer and blogger Mocha Uson.

If the Army is sane, and I believe it is, for a talk on national security they will certainly get a lot more from, say, Congressman Roilo Golez, a former National Security Adviser or some members of the academe such as Prof Heydarian. For entertainment of course these two cannot compare with Mocha Girls personified.

It’s obvious somebody put a gun to a general’s head and say invite or else. Just wait and see. There will be more invites for the internet army in the days ahead from various other institutional activities, I won’t be surprised.

Did not the AFP make Pacquiao some sort of honorary captain a few years back?
My respect for the upper echelons of AFP has always been beneath the respect I have for tongress.
On other hand, backhanded comments about Mocha’s background from critics are not necessary. Demeaning and counterproductive.
Mocha should watch herself, though. Her idol is now making jokes about one of his loyalists, the fallen foreign mister.

She is going to share with the Army generals on her strategy to prevent Chinese submarine intrusion into the deep waters of Benham Rise. She will strip away all the technical dressings down to the naked truth of submarine detection technologies then she will tantalise the men in green as she give penetrating insights into Passive sonar, Active Sonar, Magnetic Anomaly Detection, Infrared, Green Laser, Radar, Electronic Countermeasures and Hydrodynamic Pressure Detection. After this lecture, your asses are better covered, the Chinese have no chance to infiltrate our waters.

This came out of the current senate inquiry (Yet another inquiry!!!) this time on the PUV accident — Singapore offered help on road pricing scheme. I’m not saying Spore’s scheme will fit and work here, but it’s good the LTO go study the success of other countries.

I don’t know if the LTFRB received my email about two years ago. I complained about the rampant texting/calling on cellphones of jeepney drivers while driving at ‘biyaheng langit’ speeds particularly in the provinces.

There are way too numerous ‘No Smoking’ stickers inside jeepneys that are just ignored by drivers so why that agency had not issued such signs about distracted driving is a puzzlement to me.

Welcome to Singapore where the govt is master of using tax as a fiscal tool. In the process, they raise disgusting amount of revenue through fiscal policies purportedly to curb vehicular population or getting rid of older ones. How do you think we build such a huge sovereign wealth fund.

You have got to read the link guys. The Pambansang Kamao tried “to land a knockout punch” but Big Drilon stood his ground.

It is entertaining but sad that the Senate debate on a bill has come to this. And to think that the Senate Bill is supported so far by seven other senators including Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.

Our DOST has many wonderful ideas, but if promising projects like Project NOAH will be scrapped due to “cost cutting” and shift in priorities, nothing will happen to us, except jump for joy at every promise of change.

Yes
Thanks Madlanglupa,
I posted it too at an older blog a few minutes ago.
With the police connecting the expelled INC to the Magdalo,
Faeldon’s brave pronouncements if reform in the BOC to save his skin.

Now this impeachment complaint.
Let us see if Alvarez retract statements of ejecting Anti Death penalty solons from committee chairmanships.

Got a bad feeling the Magdalo fiasco at INC is an attempt to find a way to link to Trillanes. Do they need those arms to protect Angel Manalo? They just forgot to put tank in a church. It’s a ridiculous overkill, so very obvious the objective is to incrimminate someone in a bigger picture.

Talking about nominal fare, in the mid 50s to the late 50s, the bus fare from Quiapo to UP was unchanged at 15 centavos. If one eats a P1.00 lunch at the cafeteria one is labeled as mucho dinero. Those were the days.

*******Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la La la la la la la
*****

Born to an American mother & Filipino father in 1970, Alan Cayetano was entitled to dual-citizenship. He chose to be American – applying for & receiving an Alien Certificate of Registration from the Philippine Bureau of Immigration. Note that only foreign nationals are qualified to apply for ACR. Filipino citizens are not allowed.

In a poll case vs Cayetano decided in 2007, Comelec admitted the fact that Cayetano indeed secured an ACR but said his rival failed to prove that Cayetano was not a natural-born Filipino.
In plain English, he registered as an alien but was somehow not an alien. Comelec erred here. Born to a duck. Registered like a duck Quacks like a duck. Must be a duck.

Cayetano could not reacquire his Filipino citizenship in 1999 simply because Dual Citizenship Act took effect only Sept 2003.That law enables ex-natural born Filipino citizens who ‘lost’ their Philippine citizenship when they became citizens of other countries to reacquire their original Filipino citizenship by formally reapplying.Sen. Grace Poe did this in 2005 (after law was passed). Cayetano did not do this in 1999 (no such law yet).

Not American (he renounced). But not Filipino (he never applied to reacquire). This means Cayetano was an American when he run for Taguig councilor (1992), vice mayor (1995) & congressman (1998). Then he became Stateless since 1999 when he was reelected congressman (2001. 2004) then Senator (2007. 2013). Our Constitution requires that “No person shall be a senator unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines.”

It seems Cayetano is unqualified for the seat from where he has been barking. During the campaign, Duterte kept saying ‘adherence to the law is optional in the Philippines’. Little did we know he was referring to the younger trapo beside him.”

Hahaha. No wonder Cayetano was jettisoned. If not, it would have been very embarrassing to Duterte that his two successive nominees were literally labeled as both being FOREIGNER NOMINEES to the post of Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

The Filipinos who are fond of making jokes will then say — why not, it is a Foreign Affairs post isn’t it, so it is best handled by a FOREIGNER.

Aircon UVs are the real competition. Naturally, this means evolution of the design, as well as inevitably changing the mindset of its operators and drivers; some younger people see jeepneys as a threat to the environment and traffic.

I understand why you are asking this question. Data is hard to come by despite FOI. Request for info to DOTC got referred to LTFRB. Probably LTFRB can give the definitive answer but I did’nt bother with this because it’s not critical to my article. Instead I relied on the figures in a Rappler report which came from DOTC. ( http://www.rappler.com/nation/115175-dotc-plans-2016 )

A google search turns turns out very few answers. i have seen wildly different figures from non official sources.

I pointed out the safety issues. Few days back I watched on TV an accident involving a jeepney. Video showed a jeepney stationary and in lateral position in the middle of the road (it was the last in a row of stationary vehicles. Along came a heavy vehicle. A careless motorbike swered into its path and the heavy vehicle swerved to avoid a collision, but in turn clipped the rear of the jeepney. The impact caused the jeepney to spin. Seconds later 3 bodies laid on the road. These were the passengers who got thrown out because jeepneys are open at the rear and the front. These are safety issues that nobody bothers.

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